Poker & Parlays

[FunnyHoneyBunny]

When you play the slots (or any other game really) you put your player card in (or give it to the pit boss on a table) and that keeps track of how much you are playing and winning (or losing). That is how you earn comps at the casinos... they track how much you spend. You could play the machines and tables without the player card but they'll still get you if you hit a jackpot on a slot machine... the machine stops and it starts flashing for an attendant so if you want your money, you have to go through the attendant who will do all the paperwork.

The chips cashing... you cash the chips in or out whenever you want (or even take them home with you). That's probably why the table winnings are exempt I guess. They track how much you cash in at a table. So if I sit down on a BJ table and give them $300, I also give them my player card so I get credit for that $300 and get some comps. What I actually walk away from that table with though, I don't know how they could track that. I guess they could require you to get all your chips at the cashier before hitting any of the tables and then they could track it that way if you can only cash in and out at one place. But they don't do that (or want that). You can directly buy in at any table at any time, which is way more impulsive and better for them. I can't imagine the lines at the cashier if everyone had to buy in there.

And you are playing against the casino, but the IRS considers any money you make gambling as 'income' so they want their piece! Same thing as winning on a game show, or hitting the lottery here too. They do let you write off your buy-ins/losses if you do claim any money, but only up to the amount you won. So yeah... you always have to keep in mind that whatever jackpot you win, 25-30% of that is out the door. That's why no one claims anything unless they are required to (get a tax form from the casino).

In theory you can gamble and win $100,000 and never claim it if you win it in small enough increments.

i never knew something like a player card exists.
In Germany slot machines can stand in any random bar, i thought it would be the same everywhere
Just read, that winnings of gambling are still tax free in Germany.
But the casino has to pay a lot of taxes.
No idea if the odds are worse in Germany then.

 

[Tito Orcheese]

Casinos have to report your winnings to the federal government.

Lol.

 

[osubuckeye4]

When you play the slots (or any other game really) you put your player card in (or give it to the pit boss on a table) and that keeps track of how much you are playing and winning (or losing). That is how you earn comps at the casinos... they track how much you spend. You could play the machines and tables without the player card but they'll still get you if you hit a jackpot on a slot machine... the machine stops and it starts flashing for an attendant so if you want your money, you have to go through the attendant who will do all the paperwork.

The chips cashing... you cash the chips in or out whenever you want (or even take them home with you). That's probably why the table winnings are exempt I guess. They track how much you cash in at a table. So if I sit down on a BJ table and give them $300, I also give them my player card so I get credit for that $300 and get some comps. What I actually walk away from that table with though, I don't know how they could track that. I guess they could require you to get all your chips at the cashier before hitting any of the tables and then they could track it that way if you can only cash in and out at one place. But they don't do that (or want that). You can directly buy in at any table at any time, which is way more impulsive and better for them. I can't imagine the lines at the cashier if everyone had to buy in there.

And you are playing against the casino, but the IRS considers any money you make gambling as 'income' so they want their piece! Same thing as winning on a game show, or hitting the lottery here too. They do let you write off your buy-ins/losses if you do claim any money, but only up to the amount you won. So yeah... you always have to keep in mind that whatever jackpot you win, 25-30% of that is out the door. That's why no one claims anything unless they are required to (get a tax form from the casino).

In theory you can gamble and win $100,000 and never claim it if you win it in small enough increments.

Don't tell that to the IRS...

It very much a *wink wink nudge nudge* thing though.

If you win a bunch of $10-50 payouts that total $2,500 you won't get a "you need to pay us for this" form in the mail. You're suppose to report that $2,500... but if you don't there's not a very high likelihood that you'll ever get called out on it.

If you hit one $2,500 win though, they will send you the "don't forget to include this in your taxes... if you don't report it, you'll 100% get audited" form.

 

[cmvideo75]

i never knew something like a player card exists.
In Germany slot machines can stand in any random bar, i thought it would be the same everywhere
Just read, that winnings of gambling are still tax free in Germany.
But the casino has to pay a lot of taxes.
No idea if the odds are worse in Germany then.

Haha... and I was under the opposite impression. I thought all casinos around the world would have player cards. It's totally standard here. That's how you get free rooms and food. I'm actually interested to see what comp offers I get now that I am on record as walking out of there +$10k. They always want their money back so I'm hoping they'll offer me suite upgrades to get me back lol. Now I just get standard room offers and only Mon-Thursday.

No slots allowed outside of the casino though in the US... unless you are in the Vegas airport lol. They literally have rows of slot machines in the concourses. But they also have a cashier there too in case you win.

 

[Brick]

So I was in AC for a concert last night. After the show we're hanging out and I usually play some table games but every blackjack table on Friday night at the Borgata is $50 or more. Too rich for my blood. The crowd I was with wasn't jumping on a craps table. And fuck roulette. So we're just wasting time on the slots.... everyone is playing this stupid cat game and they are all winning... except me. I'm spinning this mofo forever and it's just eating my money. I finally get a bonus round and it pays out $6! That pissed me off.... I said 'Oh fuck this cat machine' and left them there. Much to their amusement.

So I walk about 15-20 feet away and I am eyeballing this other Phoenix slot machine. However some other guy is also looking at it and he heads over to it at the same time as me... I'm not fighting for a slot machine so let him have it and figured I'd just find something else. Look around, nothing too good in the area. I look back and I notice the guy looked at this machine about 20 seconds and then walked away. So I thought, great I'll jump on that!

I sit down and notice the cheapest spin is 50 credits. My 420 ass thinks, Wow! I found a 50 cent machine... That's the cheapest one in here! Awesome. So I take the first spin and hit a bonus round immediately. Sweet! First bonus that drops is the Major bonus. I'm thinking, ok cool... that's a good start. That's probably $40-50 on this machine. And I watch a few more bonuses drop and they are hitting pretty good amounts too.... $50, $75, $100... so I said, hmm, if those are dropping randomly, what is the Major bonus on this machine?? I look up and it is $10,000! $10,000!!! I said no fucking way. That's gotta be an error. I watch a few more balls drop and the bonus round ends. Total bonus round - $10,550. HOLY SHIT!! I STILL couldn't believe it and I was absolutely waiting for the attendant to come over and tell me there was a machine error. Nope. She came over, took my ss# and info, then came back about 15 minutes later with $10,550 in cash. Oh my. While I was waiting for her to come back I looked closer at the machine and realized that the 50 credit spin I just took was actually a $25 spin. Hahaha. There is not a chance in hell I would have played that machine if I had noticed that the minimum spin was $25. That is probably why the guy before me looked at it and walked away. I hope he wasn't around when that machine hit for me on the very first spin lol. And if it didn't hit on the very first spin, I would have noticed that my dumb ass just took a $25 spin and immediately stopped. So the only way I could have hit that jackpot was by me not even realize what I was playing, and then it had to happen on the very first spin. That's unbelievable.

I've never won anything remotely like that before. And no one was around because they're all still on the stupid cat machine! So I am sitting there by myself with this machine flashing $10k on the screen... and people notice. It was making me nervous as shit lol. One guy hi-5'd me. But there was this other sketchy dude that saw it and then stood like 5 feet away just staring at the screen. He went to the other Phoenix machine on the right and 'started playing'. Then he immediately moved over to the one on the left of me and played that. I was on high alert. I'm not some dumbass... I was staring at this mofo. By that time my sister and BiL finally got my text and found me waiting on this machine so I felt a little better with a couple of people there. The sketchy guy got up and left not even a minute later.

So I eventually get the money, which they count out right there on the floor in front of everyone SMH. Two banded $5k bundles and some hundreds. I told my BiL these 2 bundles are going in the hotel safe, follow me up. So he hung back and followed about 10 feet behind me on lookout lol. And wouldn't you know, not even 20 feet from the machine I was on was the sketchy dude was there 'playing'. Mmmhmmm...

Late to this; just found it. Score! Very cool.

 

[Brick]

Flopped a Royal Flush yesterday, so that was fun. Granted, it was PLO, not NLH, but still.

This was a double-board PLO bomb pot. Some explanation is warranted for non-poker folks:
* PLO is "Pot Limit Omaha" which is similar to the No Limit Hold 'em game you see on TV all the time, with two key differences: you get four cards instead of two (adding an immense amount of complexity and variance), and instead of being able to bet it all at any time, you are limited to betting what is currently in the pot.
* Double-board means instead of just one group of communal cards, there are two. So it's possible (and in fact quite common) for two people to win the half the pot each, if one player wins one board and another wins the other. If you manage to win both boards, it's called a "scoop."
* Bomb Pot means there is no pre-flop betting, everyone puts in a set amount. In this case, $15 each, so with 8 players we have a $120 pot before we see any flops.

I have King and 10 of spades, and AJ offsuit. Pretty decent starting hand, not great but some potential.

Top board comes out: AQJ, all spades. Holy shitballs, I just flopped a Royal Flush, unbeatable hand, so no matter what I'm getting half this pot. Opens up all kinds of slow-play possibilities. Bottom board is like 6 high trash, so I have total airball there.

An aggressive player is leading off, makes a small bet of like $40, gets one caller, then I just call as well. There is an argument here to raise to build the pot, but I'm sensing weakness from both and I think each one is on some draws, and if I raise they will both fold, and I want to keep them around so hopefully they hit a hand and I can ram it up their ass.

Turn on top board is a blank, on the bottom board is a J. OK, have a piece of the bottom board, something to work with. Aggressor bets $45, dude calls, I call.

River is a 7 of spades, not really consequential. On the bottom board is a J, so I have three of a kind. Not great in PLO, but something to work with.

Aggressor makes another medium bet, like $80 or something, the other dude folds. I bet "pot" for several hundred, dude tanks for a minute and calls. I show him the bad news: stone cold nuts on top board, runner-runner trips on bottom. He mumbles for a few seconds and mucks his cards, I scoop it.

 

[cmvideo75]

Flopped a Royal Flush yesterday, so that was fun. Granted, it was PLO, not NLH, but still.

This was a double-board PLO bomb pot. Some explanation is warranted for non-poker folks:
* PLO is "Pot Limit Omaha" which is similar to the No Limit Hold 'em game you see on TV all the time, with two key differences: you get four cards instead of two (adding an immense amount of complexity and variance), and instead of being able to bet it all at any time, you are limited to betting what is currently in the pot.
* Double-board means instead of just one group of communal cards, there are two. So it's possible (and in fact quite common) for two people to win the half the pot each, if one player wins one board and another wins the other. If you manage to win both boards, it's called a "scoop."
* Bomb Pot means there is no pre-flop betting, everyone puts in a set amount. In this case, $15 each, so with 8 players we have a $120 pot before we see any flops.

I have King and 10 of spades, and AJ offsuit. Pretty decent starting hand, not great but some potential.

Top board comes out: AQJ, all spades. Holy shitballs, I just flopped a Royal Flush, unbeatable hand, so no matter what I'm getting half this pot. Opens up all kinds of slow-play possibilities. Bottom board is like 6 high trash, so I have total airball there.

An aggressive player is leading off, makes a small bet of like $40, gets one caller, then I just call as well. There is an argument here to raise to build the pot, but I'm sensing weakness from both and I think each one is on some draws, and if I raise they will both fold, and I want to keep them around so hopefully they hit a hand and I can ram it up their ass.

Turn on top board is a blank, on the bottom board is a J. OK, have a piece of the bottom board, something to work with. Aggressor bets $45, dude calls, I call.

River is a 7 of spades, not really consequential. On the bottom board is a J, so I have three of a kind. Not great in PLO, but something to work with.

Aggressor makes another medium bet, like $80 or something, the other dude folds. I bet "pot" for several hundred, dude tanks for a minute and calls. I show him the bad news: stone cold nuts on top board, runner-runner trips on bottom. He mumbles for a few seconds and mucks his cards, I scoop it.

That's awesome. So many times when you flop a crazy hand like that, no one wants to play lol. Well played!

 

[Brick]

That's awesome. So many times when you flop a crazy hand like that, no one wants to play lol. Well played!

I know! I was thinking, "how am I going to get any money out of these nits?" because they were playing the hand so passively. The dude mucked his cards so I don't know what he had, but he muttered something like "man, I didn't expect to lose both boards..." so he must have had maybe two pair on the bottom board or something.

 

[cmvideo75]

I was just looking for local tournaments to play in around here tonight or tomorrow because the wife and daughter are out of town this weekend. Live! casino near me has a $200 tourney tomorrow morning that looked appealing until I saw the breakdown of the entry fee. There is a $25 registration fee, an $11 staff fee and a $3 Tournament of Champions fund. That's almost $40 of the $200 buy in or 20%. That seems a little excessive no? Everyplace I check is similar, although there are only a few options around here. I don't remember 20% of my buy in going to the house before.

 

[Brick]

Fuck me, I got finger blasted at 2-5 yesterday, lol. I have 99 preflop, I raise, dude calls with K10 offsuit. Flop is 9QJ. Ouch.

 

[Joben Global Inc.]

So I was in AC for a concert last night. After the show we're hanging out and I usually play some table games but every blackjack table on Friday night at the Borgata is $50 or more. Too rich for my blood. The crowd I was with wasn't jumping on a craps table. And fuck roulette. So we're just wasting time on the slots.... everyone is playing this stupid cat game and they are all winning... except me. I'm spinning this mofo forever and it's just eating my money. I finally get a bonus round and it pays out $6! That pissed me off.... I said 'Oh fuck this cat machine' and left them there. Much to their amusement.

So I walk about 15-20 feet away and I am eyeballing this other Phoenix slot machine. However some other guy is also looking at it and he heads over to it at the same time as me... I'm not fighting for a slot machine so let him have it and figured I'd just find something else. Look around, nothing too good in the area. I look back and I notice the guy looked at this machine about 20 seconds and then walked away. So I thought, great I'll jump on that!

I sit down and notice the cheapest spin is 50 credits. My 420 ass thinks, Wow! I found a 50 cent machine... That's the cheapest one in here! Awesome. So I take the first spin and hit a bonus round immediately. Sweet! First bonus that drops is the Major bonus. I'm thinking, ok cool... that's a good start. That's probably $40-50 on this machine. And I watch a few more bonuses drop and they are hitting pretty good amounts too.... $50, $75, $100... so I said, hmm, if those are dropping randomly, what is the Major bonus on this machine?? I look up and it is $10,000! $10,000!!! I said no fucking way. That's gotta be an error. I watch a few more balls drop and the bonus round ends. Total bonus round - $10,550. HOLY SHIT!! I STILL couldn't believe it and I was absolutely waiting for the attendant to come over and tell me there was a machine error. Nope. She came over, took my ss# and info, then came back about 15 minutes later with $10,550 in cash. Oh my. While I was waiting for her to come back I looked closer at the machine and realized that the 50 credit spin I just took was actually a $25 spin. Hahaha. There is not a chance in hell I would have played that machine if I had noticed that the minimum spin was $25. That is probably why the guy before me looked at it and walked away. I hope he wasn't around when that machine hit for me on the very first spin lol. And if it didn't hit on the very first spin, I would have noticed that my dumb ass just took a $25 spin and immediately stopped. So the only way I could have hit that jackpot was by me not even realize what I was playing, and then it had to happen on the very first spin. That's unbelievable.

I've never won anything remotely like that before. And no one was around because they're all still on the stupid cat machine! So I am sitting there by myself with this machine flashing $10k on the screen... and people notice. It was making me nervous as shit lol. One guy hi-5'd me. But there was this other sketchy dude that saw it and then stood like 5 feet away just staring at the screen. He went to the other Phoenix machine on the right and 'started playing'. Then he immediately moved over to the one on the left of me and played that. I was on high alert. I'm not some dumbass... I was staring at this mofo. By that time my sister and BiL finally got my text and found me waiting on this machine so I felt a little better with a couple of people there. The sketchy guy got up and left not even a minute later.

So I eventually get the money, which they count out right there on the floor in front of everyone SMH. Two banded $5k bundles and some hundreds. I told my BiL these 2 bundles are going in the hotel safe, follow me up. So he hung back and followed about 10 feet behind me on lookout lol. And wouldn't you know, not even 20 feet from the machine I was on was the sketchy dude was there 'playing'. Mmmhmmm...

Nice hit bro. FYI - they should have given you a tax form with the cash for the win. It definitely gets reported to the IRS so definitely claim it on your taxes. Motherfuckers can make $50,000 playing table games and it doesn't get reported. Slot guys like me get hammered.

 

[cmvideo75]

Nice hit bro. FYI - they should have given you a tax form with the cash for the win. It definitely gets reported to the IRS so definitely claim it on your taxes. Motherfuckers can make $50,000 playing table games and it doesn't get reported. Slot guys like me get hammered.

Oh yeah I got one. I'll claim it. Ill worry about owing anything at the end of the year once I know how much I can offset with losses lol

 

[Joben Global Inc.]

Oh yeah I got one. I'll claim it. Ill worry about owing anything at the end of the year once I know how much I can offset with losses lol

100%. Just put it on your taxes and deal with it in April 2027. You can write it down in other ways.

 

[Brick]

Had a fun deep run in a poker tournament yesterday. There were 172 entries, I finished 14th. I don't do a lot of tournaments but I've had a pretty good average of making the money in the ones I did enter, so I'll be looking to do more.

 

[cmvideo75]

Had a fun deep run in a poker tournament yesterday. There were 172 entries, I finished 14th. I don't do a lot of tournaments but I've had a pretty good average of making the money in the ones I did enter, so I'll be looking to do more.

I like tournaments because it adds that different element of how you manage your stack at different times of the tourney. The strategy definitely changes depending on your position and the time of the tourney. With cash games it feels like there is no end game to me.... you just play until you don't want to anymore. The tournament feels more like a competition to me.

Plus if you can find a KO tournament, those are even more fun. You win bounties as you KO people. I don't know how they do it in the live casino but the site I play on adds 1/2 the bounty you win to you own bounty KO... so let's say everyone starts with a $10 bounty and I KO someone for their $10... that $10 goes right into my bank and half of that ($5 in this case) gets added to my own bounty so I am now worth $15 if someone KOs me. The later you get in the tournament you get some guys with some very large bounties on their head because they've KO'd a few people. It makes you call hands you probably wouldn't call just to chase the $55 bounty that guy has on his head lol. Sure I'll call your all in with my J-10 lol. The tourney moves a little faster too because of that and even if you don't make the money, you can still make some cash from the bounties.

 

[FunnyHoneyBunny]

I like tournaments because it adds that different element of how you manage your stack at different times of the tourney. The strategy definitely changes depending on your position and the time of the tourney. With cash games it feels like there is no end game to me.... you just play until you don't want to anymore. The tournament feels more like a competition to me.

and without rebuy bullshit the money it will cost you is 100% certain.
Most people can set themselves a limit no matter what, but if not, a tournament is perfect.

 

[cmvideo75]

and without rebuy bullshit the money it will cost you is 100% certain.
Most people can set themselves a limit no matter what, but if not, a tournament is perfect.

That is my problem 100% with cash games.

The casino by my house used to have $60-$100 tournaments every Friday and Saturday night before covid. Those were perfect. I knew exactly how much I could lose, even with a potential rebuy. Things can get out of hand quickly on a cash table lol.

 

[Brick]

and without rebuy bullshit the money it will cost you is 100% certain.
Most people can set themselves a limit no matter what, but if not, a tournament is perfect.

Our casino generally allows massive rebuys, all the way up through level 12 (which is about 3 hours into the tourney). I don't love it; I wish they'd limit it to maybe level 6 or 8. But the casino makes money off each buy-in, so they have incentive to leave it open. And the silver lining is the dudes firing 3,4,5 bullets at a tourney tend to not be very good at tourneys, so it does grow our prize pool and number of payouts.

 

[cmvideo75]

Our casino generally allows massive rebuys, all the way up through level 12 (which is about 3 hours into the tourney). I don't love it; I wish they'd limit it to maybe level 6 or 8. But the casino makes money off each buy-in, so they have incentive to leave it open. And the silver lining is the dudes firing 3,4,5 bullets at a tourney tend to not be very good at tourneys, so it does grow our prize pool and number of payouts.

I like an hour of rebuys lol. Level 4, close the door! 3 hours of rebuys is bullshit. Most places I play have done 2 hours it seems. That is ok. They also used to offer a 'chip-up' lol. Pay an extra $10 or $20 and you can start with an extra 10k in chips or whatever. Of course you are going for the chip up

 

[Brick]

I like an hour of rebuys lol. Level 4, close the door! 3 hours of rebuys is bullshit. Most places I play have done 2 hours it seems. That is ok. They also used to offer a 'chip-up' lol. Pay an extra $10 or $20 and you can start with an extra 10k in chips or whatever. Of course you are going for the chip up

It also makes them last for damn ever. This tourney even had a pretty aggressive blind structure early, but it still took me 8 hours of playing before getting knocked out in the money, and barely in the money at that (they paid 18 spots total). So the remaining players weren't even at the final table yet. I'm not sure how much longer it took after that, but I read this morning the last five players agreed on a five-way even chop.